Fructose, Sucrose, Agave, Cane Sugar, Stevia, SCHMEVIA......!!!!????$#&^*

I have been seriously Googling different sweetener alternatives lately, not just because I have a son and I want to offer him the healthiest culinary choices possible, but also because I am ready to open my pastry business as soon as humanly possible. My business slogan is basically "naughty but wholesome" pastries and goodies. I want to appeal to a variety of customers and offer my clients goodies that are just as naughty looking and tasting as unhealthy pastries but at the same time, much healthier and free of guilt. I researched this new Truvia sweetener and found from a number of different articles and natural food/nutrition sources that it is not certainly "safe" or "unsafe" due to the unknown factors that go into a "purification process"; basically from stevia herb/leaf to "lovely white sugar crystals": Truvia. It also does not give me comfort knowing that Truvia is owned and sold by Coca Cola and Cargill (big companies that have been generously offering the public unsafe and unhealthy substitute sweeteners and chemicals in their products for over two decades now).
I then stumbled upon research for stevia - many sources say it is safe, but inconclusive. Stevia is a 0 calorie 0 fructose or sucrose sweetener that is about 3 times as sweet as sugar and it has been used and consumed by people all over the Asian and South American regions for centuries. This calms my nerves about possibly trying it because people know how it will affect the human body and no dangerous side effects have been documented. Japan is currently the largest producer of stevia; the Japanese use stevia in many of their carbonated beverages and candies, although, I probably would only sample US produced stevia because of numerous problems with other imported products from outside of our country, such as toxins found in Asian produced baby formula, which is banned in the US.
I then studied up on Agave - a new craze that has all of the health and culinary fanatics raving. At first, I found it to be extremely attractive with its low glycemic index quality, cost effectiveness (it is 25% sweeter than cane sugar, so you use less), but then, my brother and his wife told me they found information that brought my attention to how it can harmfully affect the body if not moderated. Most companies that produce Agave process it at temperatures that are higher than the Valcanic Blue Agave Co. (which claims to keep purification temps at 118 degrees or lower - maintaning its raw food properties and); other companies crank up the heat during purification to 140 degrees or higher which alters the nectar to a high fructose, low sucrose quality and add in a high fructose corn syrup as a filler because, according to scientific journals and articles, blue agave plants take 7-10 years to grow to full harvest, and are expensive and difficult to produce in large quantities. Therefore, the 100% organic blue agave are better and have a higher price tag than the lower quality brands.
After lengthy research, however, I went back to brainstorming again and narrowed my findings to what every single expert or nutritional professional had to say about this whole topic on sweeteners: whole fruit sweeteners are the healthiest and add the best needed nutrition to our diets. 0 calorie diets always leave us unsatisfied, even though we have just eaten something tasty and calorie low or free doesn't mean that it was good for us. Our bodies have been craving sweet ever since infancy; which is a pediactric proven fact. This craving for sweet is best satisfied when whole fruits and even vegetables, such as tomatoes (yes, a fruit!) are consumed. Not only will we be taming our sweet tooth, we will also be rewarding our bodies with much needed fiber, vitamins, minerals, etc. So, hit control T, go up to your browser address bar and type in www.etsy.com/badkittyscafe and check out my naughty yet wholesome and rewarding goodies for just about any age. Because everyone deserves to be naughty!! >^..^<